Method of making insoles



' G. H. BLACK METHOD OF MAKING INSOLES Original Filed Dec. 28, 1918Patented J an. 1, 1924.

UNITED res TL F W "if GEORGE E. BLACK, onnoorrnsrns, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORTo oivrrnn'snon MACH-1N5 ERY CORPORATION, or IPATERSON, NEW JERSEY,AconPonATIoNonNnw ERSEY;

METHOD OF MAKINGINSOLES.

Original application filed December 28, 1918, Serial No. 268,689.Divided and .5, 1921. Serial No. 449,669. 7 p I To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon H. BLACK, a. citizen of the United States,residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making.Insoles, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledinthe art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to a method of pre-v paring shoe insoles of thetype having a sewing rib and an outer margin or feather and moreparticularly to welt insoles in which, because of the fitting to whichthey are subjected or other causes, the surface of the body stock at theinner side of the rib is higher than the surface of thermargin' at theouter side of the rib.

The method may be employed withfespecially important advantages in theproduction of womens high grade shoes which, in accordance with thepresent trade demands, must have extremely pointed toes and anappearance of lightness at the toe of the shoe. In preparing insoles forsuch shoes it is difficult for the operative to,.chan nel around the toewithout distorting it and without weakening the between substance at thebase of the sewingrib by making the turn at theme-prematurely, as thoseskilled in the art will understand. It is important, therefore, thatbefore. the .inseaming operation is performed the toes of such insolesbe moulded to the shape and form requiredfor the style ofshoe in whichthey are to be incorporated. In the inseamingoperation also, theoperative is aptto swing the shoe prematurely when. sewing at the toe ofa pointed toe shoe, resulting in a further weakeningofythe sewing rib byreason of the resultant oblique perforation of the between substance bythe sewing needle. It is desirable, therefore,-that.the toe, in additionto being shaped, should have the base ofthe sewing rib consolidated togive as much additional strength thereto as possible as an offset to theprobable weakening resulting fromthe channeling and inseamingoperations. To this, same end'itis. customary, when the stockis.notfirstgrade, to apply a canvas" strengthening? element to the sewingrib. Several types of insoleemploy such a reinforcement notably the Gern, Cole Patent No. 575,460,.and the Economy, Johnson Patent No. 849,245,although vari this application filed lltarch ations of the reinforcementshown in'rthesej patents have been employed in other insoles. Inall,however, ,theplaneof theinsole, inside the sewing rib, liesabO've-thatat fthe outside,.making it difficult to locate .the,i n

seam sufficiently low to provjderthe desired 'It is; important,

closed welt crease. therefore, that the stock in therangle at the innerside of the sewing rib. be depressed so that the inseaming operativewill not be forced to sew high and thus spoil the ap pearance of theshoe by leaving a .grinning seam.

The objects of thepresent invention are to overcome all of the,diiiicultiesjust adverted to and thus, by superior shoe making, producethe desired appearance and style effect in the finished shoe.

The, present method .Will bestv be inden stood from a descriptionthereofin conne tion with a. machine. Or -apparatus particularly desi ned "foruse in practising the method. S uch a'machine is disclosed in theinventors co-pending application Serial No. 268,639,, filed December 22,1918 ,fron1 which application the present applicationis a divl lonq Thedrawings of said v parent application are repeated here, Fig. 1 showingaperspective view of themachine; Fig-. 2 an enlarged view ofrthe sewingribshapinghand insole compressing instrumental-ities; Fig. 3, the toeofa pointed toe insole-before treatment; andFig. ithe, same insole aftertreatment.

Themachine or apparatus comprisesa base plate2 provided with ribs 4supporting gibs 5 to provide a seat fora work support 6which is recessedin itsv upper faceto a depth equal to,.the thickness of thefeather ofthe insoles to be treated, thereoess being shaped to receive thetoe endof the insole. The gibs .also provide a slideways fora forkedrib-shaping member 10' ,movable in, close, sliding contact overtheinsole :f eather and against the. outer side. of, the sewingp i i.

The shaping member 10 is connected by a link 12 with an operating handlever 13 by which said member may be forcibly advanced over the featherof the insole to iron it down at the outer base of the sewing rib(particularly if the feather is cut on a bevel) and-to shape the sewingrib to the predetermined outline or pattern of the acting ed e of saidmember.

The machine further comprises a triangular form or inner shaping member15 re niovably secured to a plunger 16. Form 15 accurately fits theinner side of the sewing rib in the intended .position and shape of therib and supports the rib throughout its entire height against themolding or shaping thrust of the member 10, as shown in Fig. 2. Onitslower face the form 15 is relieved in the center, or recessed, so thatthe downwardly extending margin thus formed will enter the channel,produced by the upturning of the inner lip or channel flap which is outaround the margin of the insole,'-with the result that the downwardpressure of the form is concentrated along a line or narrow surface atthe inner base of the sewing rib, where the canvasreinforcement overliesthe channel. The form and plunger are operated by a lever 18 andconnection 20 to a"foot,treadle to apply a uniform heavy, concentrated,downward pressure for depressing and compacting the insole stocksimultaneously along a line at the inner base of therib at both sides ofthe toe and for forming at the inner base a depressed seat fortheinseani stitches, as just described. The compression of the stock andlateral shaping pressure applied through the member 10 condense the ribstock in a manner to increase its strength or resistance to tearingunder the puncturing action of the needle in sewing the inseam. lVhere,as

usual and as shown in the drawings, the sewing rib comprises a pluralityof plies of stock, as one or two lips of leather and one or morethicknesses of reinforcing fabric, the action of this apparatus incompacting and molding the rib stock into a multi-ply structure impartsadditional strength to the rib as well as shapes it with exactness anduniformity to the precise outline desired for the inseam. Thearrangement by which the shaping members 10 and 15 act upon the stockatthe root of the rib at both its inner and outer bases affordsparticular efficiency in shaping and molding the rib so that the inseamcan be sewn low, making it possible to-obtain a closed welt crease and athin, graceful toe on womens pointed-toe shoes. n order that thefinished shoe may closely follow the lines of: the last, as'intended bythe shoe designer, and present a stylish and graceful appearance, it is'extremely important that the sewing rib of the insole should be madeVery accurately and uniformly since it is the position of the sewing ribwhich eventually gives the shoe the desired appearance.

With the present practice ofmakin'g insoles it is necessary to temper,as with water, the insole stock to enable it to be channeled to form thesewing rib. The channeling .operation, however, tends to distort thestock when in tempered condition and in the drying out of the sole thesewing rib is further distorted by shrinkage. The rib sets in thiscondition. When the shoe upper and-welt are attached to the sewing ribin this condition the upper and welt, of course, do not follow theintendedlines. Moreover, when the shoe upper is lasted to a distortedsewing rib the lasting wipers: which are intendedto conform accuratelyto the lines of the last 7 at the toe can not wipe the upper against thesewing rib asthey should with the result that in the 'subsequentweltingoperation'the shoeupper and welt can not be properly inseamed. Bymolding and shaping the s'ew ing rib, particularly at the toe where theworst distortion is found to occur, anniform and accurate setting of thesewing rib is obtained and consequently the subsequent welting operationis facilitated and the shoe upper and welt are enabled to follow thelines intended for them in the finishedshoe.

A gas burner 25 is shown by which the j shaping form 15 can be heatedand thus fa: cilitate the insole shaping operation. 'i The plunger 16 isnormally pressed up in'its guideway in the frame by a spring 26 Thesupport 28 for the body portion of the insole is attached to the baseplate '2 separately to permit substitution of a different toe. sup--port 6, and the supports 6 and 28 are spaced apart to present a fingerrecess for the operators convenience in applying and removing insoles.

In practising the present method with the aid of the illustratedmachine, the operator stands at the left of the machine and thrusts theinsole endwise with his left .hand to force the feather at the toe intothe recess of the upper face of the support. v After the insole has beenproperly introduced he. depresses the shaping form 15 into the toe ofthe insole, depressing the insole stock along the inner base of the riband positioning said form to co-operate with the forked member 10 whichis then advanced by the lever 13 in the right hand of the operator tocomplete the shaping of the rib, all as fully described above.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the toe lip-shapingoperation herein de- 7 scribed may be performed on various types of weltinsoles with attainment of the beneficial results referred to, and theinvenin the illustrations.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and thepreferred mode of practising the method having been described, what isclaimed as new, is z- 1. That improvement in the art of making insoleshaving a channel formed by turning a lip outwardly and upwardly toproduce a sewing rib which comprises applying a concentrated pressure tothe insole stock in said channel simultaneously throughout the length ofa line extending around the toe at the inner base of the ribsufficiently to depress the surface at said base relative to the surfaceat the outer base of the rib.

2. That improvement in the art of making insoles which comprisesapplying to the insole concentrated vertical pressure simultaneouslythroughout the length of a line around the toe at the inner base of thesewing rib of the insole and thus depressing and comp-acting the insolestock at the inner base relative to that at the outer base of the rib.

3. That improvement in the art of making insoles having a channel insidethe sewing rib and a reinforcement in said channel which comprisesmolding the. sewing rib at the toe to the desired shape and applyingsufficient pressure to the channel within the shaped toe to compress thebody stock and lower the plane of reinforcement overlying said channel.

4. That improvement in the art of making insoles which consists inapplying pressure with heat to the sewing rib at the toe of an insole.throughout substantially the entire height of the rib and simultaneouslyalong both sides of the toe to compress the stock laterally and mold therib.

5. That improvement in the art of making insoles which consists incompacting the insole stock around the toe by pressure to depress itssurface at the inner base of the sewing rib and molding the rib bytransverse pressure applied simultaneously at both sides of the toe. o

6. That improvement in the art of making insoles which consists indepressing the V insole stock by pressure at the inner base of thesewing riband molding the rib transversely, said depressing and moldingoperations being effected simultaneously at the two sides of the toe.

7. That improvement in the art of making insoles which consists in aplying simultaneously along both sides 0 the toe of an.

at the inside base of the lip and compress- 7 ing the rib transverselywhile the depressing pressure continues.

9. That improvement in the art of making insoles having a channel formedby turning a lip outwardly and upwardly to form a sewing rib whichcomprises positioning an insole with the bottom face of its toe portionagainst a work support, applying concentrated pressure to the insolethus supported throughout the length of a line extending around the toeat the inner base of the sewing rib sufiicient to depress the surface ofsaid base relative tothe surface at the outer base of the rib, andthereafter molding the rib by transverse pressure.

GEORGE H. BLACK.

